Tales of Demons
by Hydroc
Summary: This takes place after Traumend. My idea's on how some things should be wrapped up. Only two Original characters. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Jun hated the position he had suddenly been thrust in. With the sudden loss of the television remote, he had been forced by Shinku and Suiseiseki to become a blood hound and find out where the remote had gone to. Jun had already turned the entire house upside down looking for it. The only place he hadn't looked was the mirror room, and that was where he was now, ruffling through boxes, hoping that somehow, the remote would magically appear there.

"Shinku, It's not in here. I'm absolutely sure of it." Jun turned to see the doll staring anxiously at him.

"Jun, it's unacceptable that you haven't found it yet. I've already missed the start of Kun-Kun, and instead of finding it, you just tell me you that you're sure you don't have it. Now find it before I miss more of Kun-Kun." The doll turned and walked out of the door frame into the living room.

"You know, the TV set has buttons it!" Jun called after her, even though he knew it wouldn't be any use to try and have her use the buttons of the TV.

Jun sighed, and was about to leave the mirror room when a book shuffled away in a dark corner caught his eye. Walking over, Jun picked up the old book carefully and glanced it over. The musty smell emanating from it was almost to much to handle. Jun was about to toss the book aside, but something caught his eye. In the darkness of the room, Jun couldn't see what it was. As he walked out into the light of the hallway, he immediately recognized what he saw on the cover. While the black cover had a giant red pentagram upon it, and symbols of all shapes and sizes flowed through the pentagram, in the middle part was a clear drawing of a Rosa Mystica.

Jun stared at the book for a moment, and then opened it up to a random page. He was greeted by an old picture of a peddler with a knapsack slung over his back. On the other side was a description in Japanese. Surprised, Jun read a bit of what the text said.

"_The Cruel Merchant refers to himself by many names, but the one name that will get his attention if uttered is "Der lügnerische Großhändler." One can summon the Cruel Merchant simply by drawing a pentagram and uttering this name. However, the Cruel Merchant will not be in a good mood with the summoner if this is done…_"

Jun snapped the book shut. Wide-eyed, he looked down at the book shakily. "A book…on how to summon demons?" he asked quietly to himself. Though he knew he probably shouldn't, curiosity gnawed furiously at Jun, and he opened up the book to the page he was previously at and read on.

"_The cruel Merchant can grant any wish the summoner desires, from power and wealth, to resurrecting the dead. However, the Cruel Merchant doesn't give these things away. He trades things for them, and usually, the summoner will wish they had never traded with the Cruel Merchant. If the summoner demands to know the price they must pay for their wish to be granted, they must ask the Cruel Merchant before he is dismissed. He will not tell the summoner his price if the summoner doesn't ask_."

Jun closed the book more gently this time. "Any wish the summoner desires huh?" Jun pondered a moment to himself.

"Jun, have you found the remote yet?" Shinku's voice came from the living room.

"Ah, Shinku, I found the remote desu! It was under the sofa!" Jun heard Suiseiseki's voice follow after Shinku's. In a moment, Jun heard the TV turn on, and the familiar sound of Kun-Kun's voice reached his ears.

"Hmm, I should probably wait till their asleep before I test this out…" Jun thought to himself. Sprinting up the stairs, Jun quickly threw the book under his bed, flinching as he heard it clunk against the two boxes he wished he didn't have to keep under his bed.

Turning on his computer, Jun opened up his internet browser and started searching the web for anything on The Cruel Merchant. "This may be a chance…" he said to himself

quietly as he opened many tabs to occult sites.

Later on that night, at around midnight, Jun got out of bed slowly. Luckily for him, Shinku and Suiseiseki hadn't been paying to much attention to him, and didn't notice that he hadn't changed into pajamas.

Reaching under the bed, Jun pulled out the untitled occult book. Now that it was actually night time, the cover seemed a lot more intimidating. However, Jun could clearly still see the drawing of a Rosa Mystica in the middle of the pentagram. Steeling himself, Jun grabbed some "Demon Chalk" from his desk that he had recently purchased, opened his door silently, and tip-toed downstairs, unaware that upstairs, Shinku and Suiseiseki opened up their boxes and glanced after him with concern.

"What do you think that chibi-human is up too desu?"

"Let's go see." Shinku replied softly, and the two crept to the bottom of the stairs, where they heard scratching coming from the living room. The door to the living room ajar, the two dolls peered in to see what Jun was doing.

By this time, Jun had finished drawing the pentagram on the table, and was staring at it. His hand that griped the "Demon Chalk" was trembling slightly. After a full minute of slightly trembling, Jun breathed in deeply, and let it out as a sigh. Grimacing, Jun closed his eyes.

"Der lügnerische Großhändler." Jun said slowly, making sure to say the name correctly. As soon as the last syllable was uttered, Jun gritted his teeth and turned his face away from the pentagram, keeping his eyes shut tight. Shinku and Suiseiseki watched wide eyed, not knowing what would happen next.

A minute passed, and everything was still. Jun stopped gritting his teeth and looked at the pentagram, confused. "Der lügnerische Großhändler" Jun said again, a tad bit of annoyance in his voice. Again, for a minute, nothing happened.

Jun gritted his teeth and glared at the book, which he had laid nest to the pentagram. "Make a fool out of me will you, you stupid book?" Jun's voice was getting louder with each passing moment. "Well, lie all you want book! I know now you're just a stupid fake book! I know-" A soft, hand with and incredibly strong grip suddenly covered Jun's mouth.

"Shhhhh…We don't want to wake the entire neighborhood, now do we?" a voice that can only be described as pure evil whispered into Jun's ear.

Suiseiseki and Shinku both gasped silently. The man had appeared from nowhere!

"Chibi Hu-" Suiseiseki tried to cry out, but Shinku's hand stopped her.

"Suiseiseki, shh! I don't think Jun is in any danger. If this man had meant him harm, he would have already done so. Let us just continue to watch for now."

Suiseiseki started to muffle a complaint, but a glare from Shinku quieted her, and she slowly nodded her head, allowing Shinku to release her.

Jun trembled greatly as the hand increased its grip over his mouth. "You know, it has been about a hundred years since I was last summoned. I have the power to make men world conqueror's, make them immortal, give them ultimate knowledge, and a myriad of many other fantastical abilities and traits, and here I find myself summoned by a brat in his kitchen, and he dared to call me Der lügnerische Großhändler. You're lucky you piped my interest, or else I would have already dragged you to hell with me by now." The hand released its grip and Jun fell to the floor. Looking behind him, Jun gazed upon the Cruel Merchant.

The Cruel Merchant was a tall man with red hair in a white business suit. His green eyes held a neutral look as they looked down upon Jun. It was impossible to tell that this was a demon just by looking at him. However, there was an evil aura about him that only the truly oblivious would miss.

As Jun adjusted his glasses, The Cruel Merchant raised an eyebrow. "I know you don't want power or fame or wealth. I can tell just from looking at you that you're not the kind of person, so what do you want?"

Jun got to his feet shakily. "You look nothing like the picture of you." he said, trying to steady his voice.

The Cruel Merchant shrugged. "I change with the times. A lot more people seem to trust men in suits nowadays, or so I've seen, and all I want is for people to trust me."

The Cruel Merchant let out a vicious cackle. "Now, what can I trade you for?"

Jun cleared his throat and looked at The Cruel Merchant with suspicion. "Can you really bring people back from the dead?"

The Cruel Merchant snorted. "Of course I can. Death is not a tough barrier for me to cross."

"Well what if the people I want brought back aren't people?"

The Cruel Merchant gave Jun a confused looked, while Shinku and Suiseiseki gasped. "Jun, no…Father said it was my responsibility…mine…not yours…" Shinku said sadly, pleading with her eyes for Jun not to do this. Suiseiseki covered her mouth slightly and mouthed "Jun…" silently.

"What do you mean, not people?…Oh…I see." The Cruel Merchant grinned fiendishly at Jun. "You mean those two empty dolls without souls you've stored away upstairs under your bed? You want me to get their Rosa Mysticas back, don't you?"

Jun didn't respond.

The Cruel Merchant shrugged. "It is done."

Everyone gasped. "That's…that's all there is to it?" Jun stammered.

"Correct. That's all there is to it." The Cruel Merchant glanced at a non-existent watch on his wrist. "The two should be awake next morning." Glancing over to Shinku and Suiseiseki, The Cruel merchant grinned. "You know, daughters of Rozen, I can use my power to instantly turn one of you into Alice. Give me a call if you ever want to take me up on that offer."

Both Shinku and Suiseiseki took a step back in amazement. Jun glanced over at the door in confusion before spotting Shinku and Suiseiseki. "Shinku! Suiseiseki! What are you two doing here?"

"We noticed that chibi-human was acting strange today, so we wanted to see what you were doing Desu!"

"Jun, who is this? How can he have power like this?" Shinku asked.

"He'll have time to tell you later. In the mean time, if I have no other business here, then I shall be off.

Jun quickly remembered something from the text. "Wait! I demand to know what price you took for giving back Souseiseki's and Hinaichigo's Rosa Mysticas!"

"Oh, drat, I thought I could slip away without telling you." The Cruel Merchant chuckled. "I've just made sure that they can no longer become Alice…ever."

Jun stared at The Cruel Merchant in surprise, but Shinku and Suiseiseki stared at him in complete horror.

"H-how can you do something so cruel? How can you do something so evil?" Shinku asked, trembling as she spoke. Suiseiseki just broke down and cried.

"Simple little Rozen Maiden. I'm a demon. Your father learned that lesson the hard way too. Now I must be off. I'm needed at-" A miniature figure in a brown cloak suddenly smashed through the glass doors to the backyard., drawing a sword and charging The Cruel Merchant. In a puff of smoke, The Cruel Merchant was gone, but not fast enough, as the small figure's sword has some black, smoldering liquid upon it.

Looking across the room at the shocked figures staring at it, the miniature figure sheathed its sword with hands the size of the Rozen Maiden's.

"It seems you learned the hard way about deals with The Cruel Merchant. That is most unfortunate." The voice coming from the hooded head of the figure was undeniably male.

"Who…who are you?" Jun asked after he had recovered from the shock.

The figure pulled back its hood, revealing a doll face as perfect as the Rozen Maiden's, with hair as blonde and eyes as blue as Shinku's. "My name is Siegfried, and I need your help to kill my father, The Cruel Merchant."


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, Jun found himself in a situation he really did not want to be in. After the new doll called Siegfried had fixed the door he had smashed, he had demanded that a meeting be called in the morning. Though questions had been thrown at him like bullets from a gun, the doll had simply said he would answer everything in the morning. After he issued that statement, he had wrapped his cloak around himself tighter and fallen asleep on the couch. Now Jun was forced to go to sleep with his head full of questions.

As Jun had gotten into bed the second time and pulled the sheets to his head, he knew that Suiseiseki and Shinku were silently watching him. Even after a half hour, pretending to be asleep in total darkness, Jun heard only one box close. An hour passed, and Jun knew that Shinku hadn't taken her eyes off him. However, as Jun was about to give up on the idea of sleep, Shinku broke the silence.

"Jun." she said softly. She knew he was still awake, and Jun knew she knew, but he still pretended to be asleep. After a minute of silence, she spoke again.

"Jun…you tried your best. Thank you…" Jun heard her box close after she had spoken, and so he slowly opened his eyes.

His room was completely still. Jun stared at the boxes in their usual places. For a good five minute, he stared, not taking his eyes of the boxes, not even to blink.

"I'm sorry…" Jun closed his eyes softly and let sleep cover him in its sweet embrace.

A muffled voice reached Jun's ear. Who's voice was this? He could not place the owner. A second voice reached Jun's ears. This voices sounded so familiar, but from when, and where?

A beam of warm light hit Jun's face, and he sleepily opened one eye. It was morning. Sitting up, Jun wearily scanned his room. Shinku's and Suiseiseki's boxes were in the normal places, still shut. Jun let out a yawn and reached for his glasses. He suddenly stopped, as he heard the muffled voices again. Where were they coming from?

Wham! In an instant, Jun found himself pinned between the wall and his bed.

"Whaa! That was so scary! I couldn't open my box!"

"Yes, that was very strange. I couldn't open my box at first either. Well, whatever was holding the lids down, we managed to get off us at least."

"G-good morning, Hinaichigo, Souseiseki…" Jun managed to cough out this greeting, thought the pressure of the bed didn't help his breathing much.

"Hm? Jun, did you say that? Where are you?"

"Whaa! Souseiseki! Look! Jun's bed is on its side!"

Looking from the corner of his eye, Jun saw two blurs, one with a disguisable blurry hat, peering down at him.

"Jun! Are you okay? What happened?"

"What does it look like?" Jun responded, annoyed.

From the distance, Jun heard Shinku's and Suiseiseki's boxes open.

"What's all this noise so early in the morning?"

"Ah! Shinku! Suiseiseki!"

"Hinaichigo?"

"SOUSEISEKI!"

Jun could hear the clatter of doll feet running across his floor, the sound of fabric on fabric as the dolls were embracing each, and Jun would have been willing to bet everything on that Shinku was smiling brightly. However, this heartwarming family reunion filled with love and joy still didn't get the bed off him.

"Would somebody please get this bed off of me!" Jun shouted angrily from his pinned position.

"Really Jun, we're in the middle of a family reunion, and you want us to focus on you? I can't believe how rude and selfish my servant can be sometimes."

"Chibi-human doesn't have any respect for family desu! It's always about him desu!"

Jun's face went red as he seethed with rage. "I swear, when I get this bed off me…"

"I don't like it when my servants make promises they can't keep."

"Say Hinaichigo, look at chibi-human's feet sticking out from the wall desu. I wonder if he's ticklish desu?"

"Yay! Tickle Jun's feet, tickle Jun's feet."

"Don't you dare come near my feet!" Jun started flailing his feet wildly, sending all the dolls into uproarious laughter.

The sudden sound of the footsteps of tiny feet in the hallway silenced the laughter. Jun struggled against the bed so he could stretch his neck up and see what had caused the sudden silence. In a few seconds, Jun didn't have to. The bed was suddenly away from Jun, and for a moment, he thought it was floating in the air. It wasn't.

Under the bed, supporting the frame, box spring, mattress, sheets and pillow with one arm, was Siegfried. His face was bare of emotion as he stared at Jun. Dead silence inhabited the room.

"Well, are you going to move, or would you rather I put the bed back on top of you?" Siegfried asked directly, a touch of annoyance hinted in his voice. Mumbling apologies, Jun stood up and walked out of the way. Moving Souseiseki's and Hinaichigo's boxes out of the way, Siegfried set down Jun's bed as quietly and softly as he had picked it up. Sighing slightly, Siegfried turned and faced Jun and the Rozen Maidens.

"If our business is done here, can we kindly move down to the living room so that our meeting may commence? Nori is kindly making us breakfast, so we don't want to keep her waiting." With a swish of his brown cloak, flashing a bit of silver plate mail to everyone, Siegfried exited the room.

A moment of silence followed. "Who was that?" Souseiseki asked, amazement underlying her voice. "Is he a brother of ours?"

"Shinku, do we have a big brother? Do we?" Hinaichigo asked with excitement.

"No, father did not create him. He was…made by someone else." Shinku replied after a brief pause.

" It was hard to tell, since he was so similar to Shinku desu." Suiseiseki added slyly.

"What?"

"I see her point." Souseiseki interjected. "He's so…proper and formal. Plus he has the same hair and eye color as you Shinku. Someone could think easily think he was your twin brother."

"My twin brother?"

"Not to mention he was as demanding and cold as you are Shinku. Plus he-" Jun was going to add more, but a swift kick to the shins silenced him.

"Lets just go see what he has to say." Shinku demanded, blushing and annoyed. The dolls started to leave the room, Suiseiseki clinging to Souseiseki.

"Isn't Jun coming?" Hinaichigo asked, and the dolls turned to face Jun.

"Geez! Let me get changed first!" Jun shouted and slammed the door on their faces.

A little while later, everyone was gathered in the living room. The breakfast dishes were still unclean, as Nori had only been introduced to Siegfried and knew less about him then everyone else.

"Well, everyone is here. What do you want to talk about?" Shinku asked after a brief minute of silence.

"You're wrong. Not everyone is here. We're missing one person. She's actually right there." Siegfried calmly pointed to a bush through the glass doors without looking at it. Everyone else glanced at the bush in curiosity, and something stirred within it.

Kanaria popped out from the bush, surprised she had been spotted as much as everyone else was surprised that she was there.

"Aha! E-everyone is gathered together, just as I planned! It is time to enact my plan, and I, Kanaria, will get everyone's Rosa Mysticas! I will-" Kanaria stopped talking and paled as Siegfried walked to the glass doors and opened them.

"I am the one who sent Squire to you, so if you would please have a seat inside and stop your babbling, we can get this meeting started." Siegfried said this calmly, but he glared at Kanaria so viciously she trembled as she entered the room and took a seat.

"Squire?" Jun asked curiously.

"Yes, Squire. My artificial spirit." With that, Siegfried took off his brown cloak and threw it into the air. It shriveled up and became a brown version of the artificial spirits all the dolls knew and recognized.

However, Siegfried was revealed in all his glory and splendor. The quintessential knight in shining armor, except for his face and hair, he was covered in armor. Across his back was a traditional shield, though it bared no insignia. At his side was a long sword, almost the length of his entire body. However, it didn't look awkward on him for some reason, and Jun, Shinku and Suiseiseki all knew from his brief display last night that he knew how to use it. The other dolls couldn't help but gawk.

"So…are you a knight?" Nori asked uneasily.

Siegfried smiled for the first time the group had met him. He did have a dazzling smile. "Something like that."

His smile disappeared after that. "Now, let us begin. I will start from the beginning. My name is Siegfried. My father…creator, is The Cruel Merchant, the demon that Jun summoned last night."

Nori, Souseiseki and Hinaichigo all stared at Jun in amazement. "Jun…you summoned a demon?" Nori asked, worry coating her voice.

"It was a way to get Souseiseki's and Hinaichigo's Rosa Mysticas back." Jun mumbled, barely audible.

Souseiseki and Hinaichigo looked down at the ground. "Jun, you didn't have to do that…" Souseiseki said uncertainly.

"Is Jun okay?" Hinaichigo asked.

"I don't know the price my creator took from Jun, but from his, Shinku's and Suiseiseki's look, I have my expectations that he will suffer for the rest of his life with the consequences," Siegfried interrupted, "but if I may continue please…"

Souseiseki and Hinaichigo looked at Jun with sympathy, causing Jun to cringe and look away from them.

"How did The Cruel Merchant obtain Souseiseki's and Hinaichigo's Rosa Mysticas desu?" Suiseiseki asked.

Siegfried cleared his throat, obviously annoyed. "My creator has immense power. There are few beings that dare challenge him. Whoever had the Rosa Mysticas must have been smart enough to give them up to him. Now If I may continue…"

"Can he really make one of us Alice?" Shinku asked quietly, and all other questions died in everyone else's throats, with Kanaria, Souseiseki and Hinaichigo looking back and forth between Shinku and Siegfried.

Siegfried crossed his arms and sighed, closing his eyes. "Yes, he does hold that power…"

The dolls gasped, but Jun stayed silent. "What price would his enact for that?" he asked, and all the dolls looked at Jun questioningly.

Siegfried simply shrugged. "I have no idea. Perhaps he would turn the doll's medium into a lifeless doll, perhaps he would kill Rozen so there would be no one to appreciate Alice, I don't know." The doll's eyes widened with horror at the thought.

"What I do know however, is that my creator promised 3 wishes, no strings attached, to the one who can defeat him."

"Why hasn't someone who only cares about becoming Alice, like Suigintou, contacted The Cruel Merchant and asked to become Alice?" Souseiseki asked, earning a sideways glance by Shinku.

Siegfried chuckled. "Probably because Rozen despises my creator with all of his being and has done everything in his power to keep his daughters away from my creator."

This earned a gasp from the dolls. Their father, their loving, caring, kind father, hating someone?

"Why does Rozen hate your father, er, creator?" Nori asked, earning a glare from Siegfried at the mention of the word "father."

"The only way they'll find out is if they come with me to kill my creator this afternoon. Squire found out where he'll be and when, and I intend to kill him." Siegfried unsheathed his sword. "I'll let you three have the wishes. Nothing interests me other than my creator's death. I am strong, but I am also realistic. I need help." Getting on one knee, Siegfried laid his sword in front of the Rozen maidens. "Please, will you assist me?"

No one moved. Siegfried kept down on one knee as everyone looked at each other, wondering if someone would make a move.

Someone did. Picking up his sword, Jun handed it back to Sigfried. "I will help you," he said simply.

Siegfried looked up and took his sword back, smiling. "I guess I misjudged you human. I thank you for your aid."

Shinku sighed. "Well, I guess this means we're all in then. "

"Yay! We're gonna help a knight!"

"Awww, chibi-human is always getting us in more and more trouble desu."

"Wait a minute, who said I was getting involved in this?" Kanaria whined.

Only Souseiseki looked at Jun and his determined faced questioningly, wondering what on earth had happened to have Jun dive head-first into trouble.


End file.
